Convertible motor-vehicle.



J. BUTTBRWORTH. CONVERTIBLE MOTORVEHIGLE.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 10, 1914.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

cf. fiutierworth/ J. BUTTERWORTH.

CONVERTIBLE MOTOR VEHICLE.

APPLICATION TILED JULY 10, 1914.

cf BulzemuamhZ 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.-

J. BUTTERWORTH.

CONVERTIBLE MOTOR VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED J LY 10, 1914.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

4 SHBBTS- SHEET 3.

J. BUTTERWORTH. CONVERTIBLE MOTOR VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1914.

1,132,435. Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4. v

cf Battarwarth/ STES JOSEPH BUTTERWORTH, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

CONVERTIBLE MOTOR-VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar.16,1915.

Application filed July 10,1914. Serial N 0. 850,231..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH BUTTERWORTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana,have invented new and useful Improvements in Convertible Motor-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to convertible motor vehicles, the broad objectof the invention being to produce a motor vehicle which may be quicklyconverted from a passenger or touring car into an automobile truck,adapting one and the same vehicle to. be used for both pleasure andbusiness purposes.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide incombination with a stationary or main body, an extension of said bodyshiftable in a fore and aft direction, combined with motor controlledmeans for shifting the body extension either in a forward or rearwarddirection.

A further object of the invention is to provide in combination with suchconvertible body, a novel arrangement of front and rear seats, the frontseat being adapted this invention arranged as a touring orpassenger car.Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the body extended in the form of amotor truck. Fig. 3 is a top plan view partly broken away in sectionshowing the body arranged as in Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a bottom plan view ofthe same. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the body of themachine, showing also the engine and part of the body extension shiftingmechanism,

the body being shown contracted to form a touring or passenger car. Fig.6 is a similar section showing the body extended. Fig. 7 is a verticalcross section on an enlarged scale on the line 77 of Fig. 4-. Fig. 8 isa detail vertical longitudinal section showing the means for raising thefloor of the extension body. Fig. 9 is a plan view partly in section ofthe front seat supporting means. Fig. 10 is a detail side elevation ofone of the telescopic seat supports. Fig. 11 is an enlarged detailperspective view of the upper end of one of the seat support housingtubes.

Referring to the drawings 1 designates the truck frame or chassis of acombined passenger automobile and motor truck, the same being mounted bymeans of the usual springs 2 and 3 on the front and rear axles on'whichare the usual driving wheels Land steering wheels 5.

6 designates the main section of the body of the vehicle and 7 theenginehood under which is located the engine conventionally shown at '8,9 designating the engine shaft and 10 the fly wheel. The back of themain body 6 is formed by two back forming sections 11 which are hingedas shown at 12 to the fixed sides of the main body 6, the sections 11when arranged as shown in Fig. 3 to form the back of the main body beingconnected fixedly together by any suitable fastening device shown at 13.When the body is extended in the form of a motor truck as shown in Figs.2 and 6, the back forming sections 11 extend rearwardly in the plane ofthe sides of the main body 6 as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 and theyhave hinged to their free edges, end. flaps or sections 14, the sections1 1 being hinged to the sections 11 as at 15.

16 designates a tail gate which is hinged along its bottom edge at 17 tothe extension floor 18 which is slidable upon the main sta tionary floor19 and which, when the body is extended, abuts at its forward edgeagainst the rear edge of. the stationary floor at the point 20 in'Fig.6. Attached at their rear extremities to ,the bottom of the extensionfloor 18 are parallel supporting bars or extension rods 21, said barsbeing received in tubular guides 22 fastened in fixed relation to the'bottom of the main floor 19 as best illustrated in Fig. 7, the bars-21being tion to and upon the floor section 18 as shown in Fig. 5 and beinglocated under the rear seat, is out of the way.

The means for shifting the extension of ranged within convenient reachof the op the body back and forth longitudinally of the frame comprisesa rack bar 23 attached at its rear end to the extension floor 18 asshown in Fig. 6, said rack bar being adapted to slide and telescopewithin a tubular rack bar guide 24 secured to the bottom of the floor 19of the main body. Meshing with the rack bar 23 is a pinion 25 fast on across shaft 26 journaled at its opposite ends in brackets or hangers 27on the bottom of the. body. Fast on the pinion shaft 26 is a sprocketwheel 28 around which passes a chain 29 which extends forwardly around adriving sprocket wheel 30 on a short transverse shaft 31 journaled in abracket or hanger 32 fastened to the frame as shown in Fig. 4. Extendingparallel to the engine shaft 9 is a side shaft 33 on which is a slidablereversing gear sleeve 34 carrying two bevel pinions 35 and 36 either oneof which is adapted to be moved into mesh with another bevel gear wheel37- ou the transverse shaft 31. The sleeve 34 is feathered to the shaft33 so as to rotate therewith and the shaft 33 is driven from the engineshaft 9 by means of the sprocket gearing indicated at 38. The shaft 33is thus constantly driven by the engine shaft and motion is imparted totheshaft 31 for shifting the extension body back and forth by moving oneor the other of the gears 35 and 36 into mesh with the gear 37. Theshifting of the sleeve 34 is eflectedfiby means of a manually'controlledlever39 arerator, a connecting rod 40 extending from the lever 39 to agear sleeve shifting lever 41 provided with a fork 42 which engages agrooved collar at one end ofthe sleeve 34. The operator by moving thelever 39 may thus cause the motor to shift the body extension either ina forward or rearward direction as required. The rear edge of the floorsection 18 is supported at a slightly higher elevation than the frontedge thereof, being pivotally sustained at its rear edge by short postsor lugs 18 on the, rear ends of the bars 21 and 23.

When the body is extended as shown in Fig. 6, the forward edge of thefloor section 18 is in line with and abuts against the rear edge of thefloor section 19, the rear edge of the floor section 18 beinghigh'enough to pass over the section 19. Before the extention body maybe shifted in a forward direction, it is necessary to raise the forwardedge of the floor section 18 at the point 20 as high as the rear edgethereof so it will pass over the rear edge of the floor section 19. Thisis accomplished by a jack shaft '43 which is shown inthe form of a crankshaft,

the same being journaled in suitable bearings on the frame of themachine and being provided with one or more elevating cranks preferablyprovided 'with anti-friction rollers 45- which are adapted to exert anupward pressure against the bottom of the floor section 18 for thepurpose stated. The jack shaft 43 is provided with a lever arm 46 fromwhich a connecting rod 47 extends to a manually controlled lever 48shown as 10- eration to propel the extension in a forward direction orfrom the position illustrated in Fig. 6 to the position illustrated inFig. l Vhen the extension of the body is propelled in the oppositedirection, the front edge of the floor section 18' drops behind thefloor section l9andinto alinement therewith as shown in Fig. 6.

The front seat is represented at 49 and the rear seat at 50, the saidfront and rear seats being arranged in the same manner as thecorresponding seats of the present day touring or passenger car. Thefront seat 49 is adapted to be raised and lowered and for that purposeis mounted upon a series of seat supports or posts 51, four of suchposts or supports being illustrated in Figs. 3 and 9. Each of the posts51 is arranged to slide telescopically into a housing tube 52 secured infixed relation to the floor of the vehicle andprovided with alongitudinal slot 53 along which is movable a stop 54 shown in the formof a pin projecting laterally from the post or support 51. At its upperend the housing tube 52 is provided with a drop notch 55 into which thestop 54 is adapted todrop to hold the seat support 51 elevated and alsoprevent axial rotation thereof which would permit the stop 54 to enterthe slot 53. All of the supports orposts 51 are adapted to besimultaneously turned by means of lever arms 05 and 56 extendinglaterally therefrom and all coupled together by connecting rods 57 asshown in Fig. 9, 58 designating a hand lever pivoted at 59 to the seatframe and connected at 60 to the forward connecting rod 57 so that theoperator by moving the lever 58 in the proper direction may turn all ofthe posts or supports 51 and either lock the same in their raisedpositions or lower said posts, the stops 54 passing downwardly along theslots 53. Each housing tube 52 is shown as providediwith a flange 61 tosecure the same to the floor of the vehicle and each post 51 is shown asprovided at its upper extremity with a cap flange 62 to which the seatframe may be firmly fastened. The front seat is provided with a hingedand folding back 83 which may be turned downwardly from the positionshown in Fig. 5 to the position I shown in Fig. 6.

The rear seat 50is shiftable in a fore and v aft direction and when inits normal position it is supported by cleats or rests 64 fastened tothe inside of the body 6.as shown in Figs. 5 and 6; Said rear seat isconnected.

and "occupies the normal position of the front seat. This gets the rearseat out of the way when thebody is extended in the form of a motortruck and it requires but avmoment to lower the front seat and shift therear seat in the way indicated.

66 designates a guide plate for the reversing lever 39, the same'beingshown in Fig. and comprising the two slots 67 and 68 offset from eachother and connected by the transverse portion 69 which is the neutralpoint, at which the reversing sleeve 34 is held in such position as tothrow both of thebevel gear Wheels 35 and 36 out of driving mesh withthe bevel gear wheel 37 From the foregoing description it will now beseen that the machine is readily-convertible from a touring or passengercar into amotor truck and vice versa and that while the usual seats areprovided for use as a touring or passenger car, one of said seats 1smade to disappear and the other to take its place when the machine isconverted into a motor truck. It will also be understood that the motoris used as the actuating means for shifting the extension of the bodyeither in a forward or rearward direction, such shifting mechanism beingunder the direct control of the operator while in his seat in themachine.

One vehicle thus answers the purpose of two, enabling the owner tooperate the car during the week as a motor truck for business purposesand on Sunday as a passenger 03,1-

What I claim is 1. In a convertible motor vehicle, the combination of awheeled frame, a body comprising a non-shiftable section and a shiftablesection adapted to form an extension thereof, motor actuated means forshifting said extension section, and means for 'ele-' vating the forwardedge of the floor of the extensible section out of the horizontal planeof, the floor of the tion.

2, In a convertible motor vehicle, the combination of a wheeled frame, abody comprising a non-shiftable section and a shiftable sectionadaptedto form an extension non-shiftable secthereof, motor actuated means forshifting said extension section, and means for elevating the forwardedge of the floor of the extensible section out of the horizontal planeof the floor of the non-shiftable section, said elevating meansincluding a jackshaft working against the bottom ofythe floor of theextensible section,'and a manually controlled lever for o crating saidjack shaft.

3. In a convertib e motor vehicle, the combination of a wheeled truckframe, a body comprising a stationary section and a 'movable extensionsection, motor-actuated means for shifting said extension section, afront seat, telescopic legs permitting said seat to be lowered, and arear jump seat adapted to cover the lowered front seat and rest thereon.

Witnesses FRED VALLANDINGHAM, 'CATHARINE TINSLEY.

v In testimony whereof afiix my-signature.

